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The Leslie Uggams Show gave Uggams, who had first come to wide public notice as a singer on the early 1960s hit Sing Along With Mitch, her own program to showcase herself and other black performers; unlike other early variety programs which were hosted by black entertainers but featured a large number of whites in the cast, only one of Uggams' regulars, comedian Dennis Allen, was white. A recurring feature of the program was the ongoing series of sketches entitled "Sugar Hill", which dealt with the lives of middle class black family in a large American city.[1]

The series took over the time slot of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour that CBS pulled due to its controversial content. Scheduled against the venerable WesternBonanza, which was still a massive hit for NBC, and a series of fairly recent (by the standards of the era) movies on ABC, The Leslie Uggams Show had difficulty developing an audience and was cancelled in December 1969.[1]